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Florida's Beal won't last long on NBA Draft board

Florida's Bradley Beal could go as high as No. 2 in tonight's NBA Draft.

Florida freshman guard Bradley Beal made the right decision to leave the Gators after one year and enter the NBA Draft.

After all, it’s hard to improve your stock if you’re taken in the top three.

Many experts predict Beal will be coming off the board minutes after tonight’s draft begins at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. Beal will be attending the draft and turns 19 today.

“This one will be the best birthdays I’ve ever had,” said Beal, who UF listed as 6-foot-3, but measured nearly 6-5 at the NBA combine.

Sports Illustrated has Beal going to the Charlotte Bobcats with the No. 2 pick, while NBA.com and CBSSports.com believe the Washington Wizards will select him third. ESPN draft analyst Jay Bilas ranks Beal as the second-best player in the draft behind consensus No. 1 pick Kentucky center Anthony Davis, who will become a New Orleans Hornet.

Beal worked out for the Bobcats and Wizards, as well as the Cleveland Cavaliers who hold the fourth pick.

“This was a chance to realize my dream,” Beal said. “When it’s right here in front of you, you have to take advantage of it. It was hard at the end, because I had great teammates and we could do a great job next year. It was really tough, but I couldn’t pass on my dream.”

Beal has a chance to match Neal Walk as the highest UF player selected in the draft. Phoenix took Walk second overall in the 1969 draft. If Beal is selected third, he’ll be the highest Gators player taken since Al Horford went to Atlanta at No. 3 back in 2007.

Beal is expected to be the seventh UF player drafted in the top 10 and the 11th first rounder the school has produced.

Beal was a five-star prospect coming out of St. Louis and played like it for Florida this past season. He averaged 14.8 points and a team-leading 6.7 rebounds a game for the Gators, who finished 26-11 and advanced to the Elite Eight for the second consecutive season.

Beal’s height and rebounding ability coupled with his ability to score have pushed him up the draft boards. As Florida coach Billy Donovan promised when Beal announced his intention to leave UF, NBA teams have also been impressed with Beal’s high-character mental makeup.

Beal played his best late in the season, averaging 15.8 points and 7.7 rebounds over his last 17 games. That surge led Beal to rethink whether he was ready for life in the NBA.

“Early on in the season, I knew for a fact I wasn’t coming out,” Beal said. “I knew I definitely was not ready. At the end of the year, I stepped up a lot for us and started playing the way I knew how and the way I knew I could.”